Tube cleaner



Nov. 21, 1933. R. w; RANDALL ET m.

V TUBE CLEANER Filed March 6, 1931 a J I m m D MNN mmflw d A r NNQ ahoJ/ h .5 E M l Y Y w\ J B. M\ \M w \W 5 Q Q @Q Patented Nov. 21, 1933 nr ms TUBE CLEANER 7 Richard W. Randall and John Koch, Stockton,

Calif.

Application March 6, 1931. Serial No. 520,588:

8 Claims. (01. 15-1043) Our invention relates to tools primarily designed for removing internal incrustations on tubes such as boiler tubes, condenser tubes and the like, and is of thesame general class as the tube cleaners disclosed in our'copending applications Serial Numbers 441,536 filed April 4,

1930, and 502,476 filed December th, 1930.

It is a general object of our invention to proide a tube cleaner which effectively removes 1 scale and similarincrustations from theinter- I nal surfaces of tubes despite the fact that the tubes may vary somewhat in diameter and despite the further fact that the amount of incrustation may also 'vary considerably.

15. Another object of our invention is to provide "a tube cleaner in which the cutting elements are maintained in their proper position with respect to the surrounding tube.

A further object of our invention is to provide a tube cleaner-in which the cutters have no tendency to chatter or track.

The foregoing and other objects are, attained in the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawing, in which 1 I Figure 1 is a cross section on'a longitudinal plane through the axis of a tube cleaner constructed in accordance with'our invention.

Figure 2 is a detail showing in side elevation the cutting end of our tube cleaner. i

Figure 3 isa cross section on the line 3--3 of Figure 1. j I

Figure 4 is a cross section on the line 44 of Figure 1. I I

In its preferred form, the tube cleaner of our 35. invention comprises a hollow cylindrical body having flexible fingers thereon with cutters rotatably mounted on the fingers, together with a means for expanding'the fingers to spread the cutters into contact with the tube in which the cleaner is operating. In the form of our invention disclosed in the drawings, there is provided a hollow, cylindrical metal body 6 adapted to be readily inserted into a tube '7. The body 6 maybe considered as a barrel open at the cutting end 8 and at the driving end 9. Extending longitudinally of the body.

and preferably initiating adjacent the cutting end 8 are slots 11 dividing the body into a plurality of integral fingers 12 which, being mutual- .ly spaced by the slots 11 and being of relatively great length, have considerable resiliency or flexibility. I

The relatively free end of each finger, adjacent the cutting end of the tool, is-preferably thick- .ened in a radially inward direction, as at 14,

and is-bored, as at 16, to receive a stud 17 by a threaded engagement l8. Preferably, the of each stud 17 is parallel with the major longitudinal axis of the barrel 6. Mounted for free rotation on each of the studs 1'? is a toothed cutter 19; In the present instance there are three fingers 12 and correspondingly three cutters 19 each of which has diiferent toothcharacteristics, that is, one of the cutters is provided with spur teeth 21, another of the cutters is provided with right hand helical teeth 22 While the third cutter is provided with left hand helical teeth 23.

Adapted to be received within the hollow interior of the body or barrel 6 is an expander generally designated 27. The expander preferably comprises a deformable member 28, usually of rubber or comparable material, which is pierced by 'an axialor central aperture 29 so that the member 28 is in effect a sleeve. A screw 31 extends through the aperture 29 and is provided on one end with threads 32 engaging suitable threads in a pierced head 33 situated. within the barrel 6. Prongs 34 extending from the head 33 interengage with the material of the member 28 and prevent relative rotation between the head 805 33 and the sleeve 28. A corresponding head 36 within the barrel 6 encompasses the screw 31 and abuts the member 28. A non-circular terminus 38 on the screw 31 facilitates the application of a wrench for rotation thereof.

Rotation of the screw 31 with'respect to the head 33 causestheheads 36 and 33 to approach each other and to deform the sleeve 28 so that in effect its diameteris increased. Such movement of the expander 27 urges the flexible fingers 12 radially outward and impels the cutters 19 mutually to spread or separate and to approach closely the inner wall of the tube 7. Since the fingers 12 arefiexible and the material of the sleeve 28 is deformable, any major irregularities in the interior surface of the tube '7 are yieldingly followed by the tube cleaner.

In order to rotate the cleaner of 'our invention to remove incrustations from a tube such as '7, a threaded plug 41 is in abutment with the driving end .9 of the barrel. By a threaded engagement 42, the plug 41 receives the driving end 43 of a drive tube 44 connected to any suitable rotating means, not shown.

In operation of the device, a wrench is inserted into the barrel 6 to engage the terminus 38 of the screw 31 and by holding the fingers 12 in frictional engagement with the sleeve 28 the screw 31 can be rotated to cause the heads 36 and 33 to approach each other to any desired IN degree so that the cutters 19 occupy the correct mutually spaced relationship for use in a tube '7 of any desired diameter, within relatively wide limits. After such adjustment the cleaner is inserted into the tube and is translated and rotated by virtue of the translation and rotation of the driving tube 44 thereby cleaning all incrustation and undesired material from the interior of the tube '7. If desired, a wash liquid can be injected through the hollow tube 44 to keep the cutters 19 free of accumulated foreign matter. Since the tooth forms on the three cutters 19 are different, there is no possibility of teeth of successive cutters tracking or chattering so that a clean surface remains in the tube 7 after the tube cleaner has advanced therethrough.

It is to be understood that we do not limit ourselves to the form of the tube cleaner shown and described herein, as the invention, as set forth in the following claims may be embodied in a plurality of forms.

We claim: 7

l. A tube cleaner comprising a split hollov. barrel, the split portions forming movable fingers, cutters on said fingers, a deformable member substantially filling saidhollow barrel, and means for longitudinally compressing and consequently transversely expanding said mem her to spread said fingers.

2. A tube cleaner comprising a plurality of relatively movable fingers forming therebetween a chamber, a cutting member carried by each finger, a pair of relatively adjustable heads positioned in said chamber, a deformable member positioned in said chamber and substantially filling the same between said heads, and means for adjusting said heads relative to each other for varying the diameter of the deformable member formed of relatively movable fingers, a cutter on 7 each finger, a deformable member positioned within said barrel and held against bodily move ment relative thereto solely by contact of the member with the barrel, and means for deforming said member to move said fingers relative to each other.

6. A tube cleaner comprising a hollow body including aplurality of relatively movable fingers, cutters on said fingers, first and second heads within said body, a deformable member within and contacting said body and interposed between said heads, a screw extending through said member and said heads, said screw having a threaded connection with said first head for adjusting said heads relative to each other to move said fingers, and means for preventing rotation of said first head with respect to said member.

7. A tube cleaner comprising a hollow barrel formed of relatively movable fingers, a cutter on each finger, an expander unit positioned within said barrel and held against bodily movement relative thereto solely by surface contact between the unit and the movable fingers, and means for deforming the expander unit to cause the same to move the fingers relative to each other.

8. A tube cleaner comprising a hollow barrel having'relatively narrow slots formed therein to 

